


Doctor

by Falcom92



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Torchwood
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-18
Updated: 2013-05-18
Packaged: 2017-12-12 04:24:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/807201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Falcom92/pseuds/Falcom92
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything just happens so quickly; a surprise meeting with a Doctor Jack doesn't recognize and a mission he'd never even wanted to take.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Doctor

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [eloriekam](http://eloriekam.livejournal.com/) for the Spring 2013 Gift Exchange over at [wintercompanions](http://wintercompanion.livejournal.com/).
> 
> This story takes place during the events of End of Days, so Jack has yet to encounter a different Doctor regeneration. I hope y'all enjoy it :)

Jack wasn't sure what he had been expecting, really.

The mission itself had been ridiculously timed- with all the things that were happening with the rift ever since his and Tosh's return from 1941, he'd have thought that maybe, just maybe, _something_ would grant him a moments' reprieve from, well, everything- he deserved that much, surely? Just a moment to breathe, to process everything that was happening, just a moment to _stop thinking about him, why isn't he here to help, if he were here none of this would have happened_ -

Jack cursed quietly to himself as his back hit the cold stone wall behind him, the jagged granite digging painfully into his spine as he worked to quiet his labored breathing, his Webley cocked and ready at his side in case the...

Well, honestly, he had no idea what it was, just that it apparently found him to be a much more interesting target than Gwen, and had relentlessly stalked him to the ramshackle warehouse he was leaning against, its determination to reach him not waning a bit in the hour they'd been at it. Jack couldn't say how much longer he could last- his Webley was almost out of ammo, not that the bullets seemed to do much more than anger the creature anyway, and he was running dangerously low on stamina; he didn't want to think it, especially with Gwen running around somewhere alone frantically trying to find him, but at the rate he was going, the only thing that would be greeting him in the near future was death, and he _really_ didn't want to come to only to find himself being _eaten alive_ by something he couldn't even name.

He really didn't have the time to be dealing with this.

Jack groaned in frustration, his hand tightening around the grip of his revolver as he hauled himself off the ground. He didn't know what to do, but, whatever it was, he knew he had to do it fast if he had any hope of finding Gwen before the creature decided that she was a much easier meal to deal with; he'd already lost Owen, admittedly his fault, and there was no way he'd lose Gwen, too. Not like this.

A scratching noise to his left startled him out of his thoughts, and once more Jack cursed quietly to himself for his distraction as he swung the revolver up and in front of him, his gaze scanning the area for the source of the noise. After a moment he spotted it: fingers scrapping the surface of a large abandoned crate not even ten feet away, a harsh caress that seemed to be almost... _beckoning_. His gaze hardening, Jack put a little pressure on the trigger and stepped toward it, his senses on high alert for the creature chasing him as he hissed out, “show yourself!”

The fingers stilled and retreated, only to be replaced by a head peeking around the corner. Jack blinked in surprise, relief flooding through him when Gwen held a finger stiffly against her lips and tilted her head in a motion signifying that he should join her. Quickly Jack walked the feet separating them, his eyes darting around in search of the creature, and almost missed the older man sitting in quiet conference with a young woman, their voices low yet animated. Jack stalled at the corner of the crate, and sent Gwen a questioning look.

She shrugged helplessly, her voice quiet as she spoke. “I found them lurking around in the warehouse; I don't know who they are, but I thought it'd be better if they came with me instead of them being left alone with that... _thing_ running around.”

“That, my dear lady, is no ordinary 'thing'. I'm quite certain I could properly identify it if I were to get a better look.” The man spoke up, drawing Jack's attention to him immediately. His dark eyes were bright with curiosity, an easy grin pulling at the wrinkles on his face as he fiddled with something in the pocket of his red jacket. After a moment he paused, his flop of grey-white hair waving as he turned his head to address the young blonde woman. “Jo, do you still have that device I gave you? I do believe it will come in handy.”

The young woman, Jo, reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked to be like a hunk of metal- Jack couldn't really say what it was, but honestly, he didn't care all that much. Before she could speak, Jack cleared his throat to draw attention to himself, then said to Gwen, “All right, you keep these guys safe. We can figure out who they are later; in the meantime, I'll keep the creature distracted, while you take them back to the car.”

Without waiting for a response Jack stepped away from the cover the crate offered, and immediately stopped as pain erupted along his side. Faintly he could hear a woman scream, a man's yell...then, nothingness.

–

He knew he hadn't been out for long, he never was once his body healed itself, but enough time had passed for the creature to be nowhere in sight; instead what registered was Gwen, her concerned gaze locking onto to him when he'd moved, and the surprised intake of air as he lurched into a sitting position with a pained gasp. Blinking for a moment to regain his composure, he asked, “what happened? Where'd the creature go?”

Gwen opened her mouth to answer, but the response came from the man, his expression serious and mouth turned down into a frown. “I sent it home- it didn't belong here, and I confess I'm quite curious how it came to be on Earth. Almost as curious as I am about you.”

Jack grimaced; he wanted nothing to do with explaining his condition to a man he'd met not even ten minutes prior. “Likewise. Who the hell are you, and why do you know what that thing was?”

Somehow, the disapproval the man was exuding furthered. “Now listen here- you shouldn't be possible; by all rights you should be dead right now though it's unpleasant to say, and for the life of me I can't figure out what's wrong with you.”

Jo gasped from her position to the man's right. “Doctor, what-”

The rest of what she said didn't register in Jack's brain, stuck as he was on that single word: 'Doctor'. It couldn't be. There was no way. Not only did he look _nothing_ like the Doctor Jack knew, Rose was nowhere to be seen; even if it were the same man, which, while strange, wasn't entirely a farfetched idea considering what Jack knew of him, Rose's absence was very...telling.

Wasn't it?

Jack was knocked out of his thoughts by an annoyed huff, and the shuffling of feet as people stood. Immediately his gaze trained back onto the man, just in time to catch his words. “Well then. Curious though I am, we really must be going- we are far from our intended destination and I would very much like to complete my modifications to Bessie before we're off again.”

Jack opened his mouth to protest – they weren't _done_ , dammit; he couldn't just accept that the situation had been dealt with by word of mouth, not to mention the whole 'Doctor' thing! – but found himself unable to speak as the two sauntered off back into the recesses of the warehouse despite Gwen's pleading for them to stay. Once they went out of view Jack stood, his legs shaky as he quickly sped after them, Gwen's confused shout barely registering as he trailed the duo inside; it was there that he heard it, the familiar sound of the TARDIS as it departed, leaving him behind once more.

Slowly Jack dropped to the ground, his knees banging painfully against the concrete floor but he paid it no heed. Everything had happened so fast; how much time had passed? Ten, fifteen minutes tops? Had it even happened at all?

He'd think it hadn't, were it not for Gwen's own puzzlement once she caught up to him. She spoke; Jack responded in the negative despite the fact that her words failed to reach him, and closed his eyes. Images of the Doctor, his own, and the one he'd just come across, danced behind his lids, bringing a half-smile to his lips.

Coming and going like nothing had even happened...that really was the Doctor all right.


End file.
